Art, folk culture, festivals, monuments, tourism and saints of Chhattisgarh
2. Theatre, music institutions and state honours
Theatre. The Sitabenga and Jogimara caves on Ramgarh hill in Surguja are cited as among the earliest examples of theatre architecture in India, assigned to the Mauryan period (3rd century BCE); Jogimara carries a Brahmi inscription. In modern times Habib Tanvir (born in Raipur on 1 September 1923) built Chhattisgarhi Nacha performers into world theatre: he founded Naya Theatre in 1959 (the company is long associated with Bhopal) and staged *Charandas Chor* in 1975 with the Nacha artist Govind Ram Nirmalkar in the lead.
Music and dance institutions. Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, founded in 1956, is a university devoted to music, dance and the fine arts. Raigarh is remembered for its Kathak tradition under the patronage of Raja Chakradhar Singh, and its Chakradhar Samaroh, a festival of classical music and dance, is held during the Ganesh festival. Teejan Bai (born 1956 at Ganiyari, near Bhilai) received the Padma Bhushan in 2003 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2019.
| Honour | Field |
|---|---|
| Pandit Sundarlal Sharma Samman | Literature |
| Dau Mandraji Samman | Folk art |
| Guru Ghasidas Samman | Social awareness and upliftment of the Dalit community |
| Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Samman | Upliftment of tribal and backward classes |
| Gundadhur Samman | Sports and youth (awarded through the sports and youth welfare department) |
3. Crafts and body art
Craft questions ask for the craft, the place and the technique. Bastar is the centre of most of them.
- Dhokra (Bastar) is metal casting by the lost-wax method, in brass or bell metal, practised by the Ghadwa community; it is one of the oldest casting traditions of the region.
- Wood carving, bamboo work and terracotta are the other Bastar crafts, with Kondagaon the best-known centre for terracotta and wrought-iron figures.
- Kosa (tussar) silk is woven in the Champa, Raigarh and Korba belt of the plains.
- Godna is traditional tattooing; the Ramnami Samaj tattoo the name of Ram across the body as an act of devotion.
4. Fairs and festivals: a calendar
The agricultural year organises the festivals. Read the table in calendar order, from the monsoon sowing to the winter harvest and the spring fairs.
| Festival or fair | When | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Hareli | Shravan Amavasya | First festival of the farming year; ploughs and farm tools are worshipped |
| Pola | Bhadrapad Amavasya | Bullocks are honoured and decorated |
| Teeja (Teeja-Pora) | Bhadrapad Shukla Tritiya | Married women fast and return to their parental home |
| Bastar Dussehra | A 75-day festival | Honours the goddess Danteshwari, not the killing of Ravana; chariot processions and the Muria Darbar |
| Bastar Gonchha | Rath Dwitiya, Ashadh Shukla | Rath festival of Jagannath at Jagdalpur; children fire bamboo pop-guns loaded with the gonchha fruit |
| Chherchera | Pausha Purnima | Harvest festival; children go house to house asking for paddy |
| Rajim fair (Rajim Kumbh) | Magh Purnima to Mahashivratri | At Rajim in Gariaband, at the confluence of the Mahanadi, Pairi and Sondur, by the Rajiv Lochan temple |
| Madai | Winter, after the harvest | Tribal fair-festivals of the Bastar region, where village deities are brought together |
5. Archaeological and temple sites
Learn each site as a district, a dynasty and a signature feature. The dynasties and the Kalachuri capitals are taught in the history chapters; here they are only the anchor for recall.
| Site | District and setting | Period and rulers | Signature feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sirpur (ancient Shripura) | Mahasamund, on the Mahanadi | Monuments of the 5th to 12th century; seat of the Panduvanshi kings | Brick Lakshmana temple; excavated Buddhist and Jain monasteries, Shiva and Vishnu temples and a market |
| Malhar (ancient Mallar) | Bilaspur | Sharabhpuriya, Somvanshi and Kalachuri periods | Pataleshwar temple, Deur temple, an early Vishnu image with a Brahmi inscription |
| Tala | Bilaspur | About the 6th century, Sharabhpuriya period | Deorani-Jethani temples; the colossal Rudra Shiva image |
| Ratanpur | Bilaspur | Capital of the Kalachuri kings of Ratanpur | Mahamaya temple |
| Bhoramdeo | Kabirdham, near Kawardha | 11th century, Nagvanshi | Called the “Khajuraho of Chhattisgarh” for its sculpture; the Madwa Mahal nearby dates from 1349 |
| Rajim | Gariaband, at the Mahanadi-Pairi-Sondur confluence | Medieval Vishnu temple complex | Rajiv Lochan temple |
| Dantewada and Barsur | Dantewada, Bastar | Temple towns of the Bastar region | Danteshwari temple at Dantewada; clusters of ancient temples at Barsur |
6. Waterfalls, caves, parks and sanctuaries
Waterfalls and caves of Bastar. Chitrakote, on the Indravati river in Bastar, is the best-known waterfall and is commonly described as the broadest in India. Tirathgarh and the caves of Kutumsar and Dandak lie in the Kanger Ghati National Park near Jagdalpur. Elsewhere, Amrit Dhara is a waterfall of the Koriya region, and Mainpat in Surguja is a hill tourist place.
| Protected area | Status and place | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Kanger Ghati | National park, Bastar | Contains Tirathgarh falls and the Kutumsar and Dandak caves |
| Indravati | National park, Bijapur | Also a tiger reserve, named after the river |
| Guru Ghasidas | National park, Koriya region | The largest of the three; named after the Satnami saint |
| Achanakmar, Barnawapara, Udanti, Sitanadi, Gomarda, Badalkhol, Semarsot, Pamed, Bhairamgarh, Bhoramdev, Tamor Pingla | Wildlife sanctuaries | Eleven sanctuaries in all, with the three national parks, in the list given in Parliamentary replies on the state's protected areas |
The Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve was notified in November 2024 under section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; its core takes in the Guru Ghasidas National Park and the Tamor Pingla Sanctuary. Counts of reserves change with notifications, so a question gives the date it relies on.
7. Saints and the Satnami tradition
Guru Ghasidas was born on 18 December 1756 at Giraudpuri, now in Balodabazar district, to Mahangu Das and Amrautin Mata. He founded the Satnami movement in Chhattisgarh, probably between 1820 and 1830, preaching one God known as Satnam (the name of truth), rejecting idol worship and caste distinctions, and advising vegetarianism and abstention from intoxicants. Its emblem is the jaitkhamb, a white-painted wooden pillar topped with a white flag, the “pillar of truth”. His son Guru Balakdas succeeded him. His name lives in the Guru Ghasidas University at Bilaspur, the Guru Ghasidas National Park and the state honour.
Kabir and Dharamdas. The Kabirpanth reached Chhattisgarh through Kabir's disciple Dharamdas, whose line has an important seat at Damakheda; Kabirdham district, with its headquarters at Kawardha, carries the saint's name. Vallabhacharya, founder of the Pushtimarg school of Krishna devotion and its Shuddhadvaita philosophy, is traditionally said to have been born in the forest of Champaran (Champaranya) in Chhattisgarh; the hagiographies give the year as 1478, while some followers give 1473, so no question can rest on it.
Key takeaways
- Folk arts are a triple of community, season and feature: Panthi is Satnami, Raut Nacha is the Yadav cowherds' dance from Govardhan Puja to Dev Uthani, Karma is Gond, Baiga and Oraon, Gaur is the bison-horn dance of the Maria, and Pandwani is the Mahabharata ballad of the Pardhi, made famous by Teejan Bai.
- Nacha is the plains' folk theatre; Habib Tanvir, born in Raipur, founded Naya Theatre in 1959 and staged Charandas Chor in 1975 with Nacha performers. The Sitabenga and Jogimara caves on Ramgarh hill are cited as early theatre architecture.
- The Rajyotsav honours are learned by field: Pandit Sundarlal Sharma for literature, Dau Mandraji for folk art, Guru Ghasidas for social upliftment, Veer Narayan Singh for tribal and backward-class upliftment. Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya at Khairagarh dates from 1956.
- The festival year runs Hareli, Pola, Teeja, Chherchera, Rajim fair; Bastar Dussehra lasts 75 days and honours Danteshwari, not the defeat of Ravana. The Rajim fair is at the Mahanadi-Pairi-Sondur confluence.
- Sites are district, dynasty, feature: Sirpur (Mahasamund, Mahanadi, Panduvanshi, brick Lakshmana temple, excavations), Malhar and Tala and Ratanpur (Bilaspur), Bhoramdeo (Kabirdham, Nagvanshi, 11th century), Rajim (Gariaband), Dantewada and Barsur (Bastar).
- Chitrakote is on the Indravati; Tirathgarh and the Kutumsar and Dandak caves are in Kanger Ghati National Park. The national parks are Kanger Ghati, Indravati and Guru Ghasidas; Achanakmar is a sanctuary. Guru Ghasidas (born 18 December 1756, Giraudpuri) founded the Satnami movement and its emblem is the jaitkhamb.
Practice questions (17)
Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.
The Panthi dance of Chhattisgarh is performed by which community, in connection with the memory of Guru Ghasidas?
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Answer: B — The Satnami community
Panthi belongs to the Satnami community, the followers of Guru Ghasidas, and dancers circle the jaitkhamb. The Gond are tempting because they are the largest tribe and perform Karma and Suwa, but Panthi is a Satnami art, not a tribal one.Match each Chhattisgarhi folk art with its performers or form. P: Raut Nacha, Q: Gaur, R: Pandwani, S: Suwa. Which set of pairings is correct?
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Answer: C — P: Yadav cowherds; Q: bison-horn headdress of the Maria; R: Mahabharata ballad; S: parrot dance of women
Raut Nacha is the cowherds' dance, Gaur is the Maria bison-horn dance, Pandwani narrates the Mahabharata and Suwa is the women's parrot dance. The set beginning with Satnami followers fails because Raut Nacha is not Satnami and Pandwani is not the Ramayana; the set that pairs Yadav cowherds with the parrot dance swaps Gaur and Suwa; the set beginning with Gond men fails because Raut Nacha is not a Gond men's dance and Pandwani is placed against the wrong label.Consider the following statements. P: Pandwani narrates episodes of the Mahabharata. Q: Teejan Bai, its best-known performer, belongs to the Pardhi community. R: Habib Tanvir founded Naya Theatre in 1959 and first staged Charandas Chor in 1975. S: Habib Tanvir was born in Bhopal. Which is/are correct?
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Answer: A — P, Q and R only
Statements P, Q and R are correct. S is wrong: Habib Tanvir was born in Raipur on 1 September 1923; Naya Theatre, the company he founded in 1959, became long associated with Bhopal, which is why S is tempting.Habib Tanvir's Charandas Chor drew on which Chhattisgarhi performing tradition, with an artist of that tradition in the lead role?
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Answer: D — Nacha, the all-night folk theatre of the plains
Tanvir worked with Nacha performers, and the Nacha artist Govind Ram Nirmalkar played Charandas. Panthi, Karma and Gaur are dances, not theatre, and none supplied the troupe.For how many days does the Bastar Dussehra continue?
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Answer: B — 75 days
Bastar Dussehra lasts 75 days and honours Danteshwari with chariot processions. Ten days and nine days are the lengths of the Dussehra and Navratri observed elsewhere, which is why they are offered as distractors.Arrange these in the order in which they fall in the agricultural year, earliest first:
(i) the Rajim fair,
(ii) Hareli,
(iii) Chherchera,
(iv) Teeja.Show answer
Answer: A — Hareli, Teeja, Chherchera, Rajim fair
Hareli falls on Shravan Amavasya, Teeja on Bhadrapad Shukla Tritiya, Chherchera on Pausha Purnima and the Rajim fair from Magh Purnima. The closest distractor puts the Rajim fair before Chherchera, but Pausha comes before Magh.The Rajim fair is held at the confluence of which three rivers, beside the Rajiv Lochan temple?
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Answer: C — Mahanadi, Pairi and Sondur
Rajim, in Gariaband district, stands where the Pairi and Sondur join the Mahanadi. The Sheonath-Kharun-Arpa set is the distractor because all three are well-known rivers of the plains, but none meets at Rajim.Consider the following statements about sites. P: Sirpur lies on the Mahanadi in Mahasamund district and has yielded excavated Buddhist monasteries. Q: The Bhoramdeo temple, near Kawardha in Kabirdham, is assigned to the Nagvanshi rulers and the 11th century. R: Malhar, in Bilaspur district, has the Pataleshwar temple. S: The Rajiv Lochan temple stands in Bilaspur district. Which is/are correct?
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Answer: B — P, Q and R only
P, Q and R are correct. S is wrong because the Rajiv Lochan temple is at Rajim in Gariaband district, at the confluence of the Mahanadi, Pairi and Sondur; the fair there is known by the name Rajim, which makes a Raipur-Bilaspur slip easy.Match each site with its feature. P: Tala, Q: Bhoramdeo, R: Ratanpur, S: Dantewada. Which pairing is correct?
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Answer: D — P: Deorani-Jethani temples; Q: the “Khajuraho of Chhattisgarh”; R: Kalachuri capital; S: Danteshwari temple
Tala has the Deorani-Jethani temples, Bhoramdeo is the Khajuraho of Chhattisgarh, Ratanpur was the Kalachuri capital and Dantewada has the Danteshwari temple. The closest distractor swaps Bhoramdeo and Ratanpur (Kalachuri capital against Khajuraho label), the most tempting error because both are medieval royal-temple names; the others misplace Danteshwari or the Deorani-Jethani temples.The Chitrakote waterfall, often called the broadest in India, is on which river?
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Answer: A — Indravati
Chitrakote is on the Indravati in Bastar. The Mahanadi is the distractor because it is the state's principal river, but its course is through the central plains, not through Bastar's falls.Which of the following is NOT a national park of Chhattisgarh?
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Answer: C — Achanakmar
Achanakmar is a wildlife sanctuary, though it is also a tiger reserve. Kanger Ghati, Indravati and Guru Ghasidas are the state's three national parks. Achanakmar is chosen as the trap because its fame and tiger-reserve status make it look like a park.Consider the following. P: Chitrakote lies on the Indravati river in Bastar. Q: Amrit Dhara is a waterfall of the Koriya region. R: The Kutumsar cave lies in the Kanger Ghati National Park. S: Mainpat is a hill tourist place in Bastar. Which is/are correct?
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Answer: D — P, Q and R only
P, Q and R are correct. S is wrong because Mainpat is a hill place in Surguja in the north, not in Bastar. It is offered because Bastar is the better-known tourist region of the state.The Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve, notified in November 2024, has its core in which pair of protected areas?
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Answer: A — Guru Ghasidas National Park and Tamor Pingla Sanctuary
The reserve takes its name from, and is built on, the Guru Ghasidas National Park and the Tamor Pingla Sanctuary in the north. The Indravati and Pamed pair belongs to the south, and the Udanti-Sitanadi pair is a separate tiger reserve in the central region.Guru Ghasidas, founder of the Satnami movement, was born at which place?
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Answer: D — Giraudpuri
Guru Ghasidas was born in 1756 at Giraudpuri, now in Balodabazar district. Champaran is the traditional birthplace of Vallabhacharya and Damakheda is a Kabirpanth seat, both tempting because they are saints' places.The jaitkhamb, the white pillar topped with a white flag, is the emblem of which tradition?
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Answer: A — The Satnami movement of Guru Ghasidas
The jaitkhamb, the pillar of truth, is the Satnami emblem and Panthi dancers circle it. The Ramnami Samaj is the closest distractor because it is also a Chhattisgarhi devotional community, but its mark is the tattooed name of Ram.Which pairing of a saint with a tradition is NOT correct?
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Answer: B — Guru Ghasidas: Pushtimarg
Pushtimarg is the school of Vallabhacharya, not of Guru Ghasidas, who taught Satnam pantha. The other three pairings are right; the key is the one that attaches Ghasidas to Vallabha's school.Which pairing of a Chhattisgarh state honour with the field it recognises is correct?
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Answer: B — Dau Mandraji Samman: folk art
Dau Mandraji Samman recognises folk art. The Sundarlal Sharma honour is for literature, the Guru Ghasidas honour is for social awareness and the Veer Narayan Singh honour is for tribal and backward-class upliftment. The Sharma-sports pairing is tempting only because he was a public figure.